The Inside World of Avatar Aang
by Shmerp2012
Summary: The relationships in Avatar: The last Airbender as one-shots in this fanfiction.


The Unnoticed Scar

Azula and Zuko were brother and sister by looks. Anybody with eyes could see that. But by personality, the two were irrevocably different. Azula represented her Father, Ozai's, fiery passion, his distrust towards others, and his raw power and smugness. Zuko, on the other hand, represented his mother, Ursa's, gentleness, openness, and cleverness. Despite their year gap, Azula was way ahead of her older brother in firebending, but Zuko was close to mastering the art of dual swords at the mere age of eight. Not that their Father cared about _that _of course. Their Father only cared for Azula's raw talent, and did not even express love towards her. Neither did her Mother, for fear that her daughter was becoming a monster. The only one who ever loved her, and whom she ever even admitted to loving, was her older brother.

Zuko, being Azula's older brother, had made it one of his top priorities to protect his sister with his own life. Azula was clever and she caught the drift, often manipulating Zuko to do her bidding. Her older brother would turn to putty after one little pout or tear, and would fall of the face of the Earth if it made his little sister happy. Back then, when she was seven and learning to become devious, she may have ordered him to repeatedly fall of the face of the Earth so that she could cackle with her monstrous laughter. Now, with the war over, with her insanity slipping inside this Mental Rehabilitation Facility, and Zuko's visiting hours over, she wanted nothing more but to have him at her side. Even though he was now the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, Azula still liked to believe that Zuko was her older brother, the one she would call on at night from the ages of 5-10 to get rid of the monsters in the darkness. Not that she would ever admit that, of course.

Her favorite story with Zuko was one he called "The Unnoticed Scar". It was back when Azula was not as crafty, or as skilled, as she was now. She was a slightly naive seven year old girl, who was already on her way to becoming an Intermediate in Firebending, despite the fact that her older brother was still a Beginner. All of the boys in her class (She was the only girl) were amazed by her abilities, at first. Then, they slowly began to hurt her, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally. Even now, Azula thought of it as ridiculous. She was the _Princess _of the Fire Nation. She was royal and powerful, but these boys treated her like dirt everyday. Occasionally, one would hold her underneath a nearby river for a full minute, and then pull her up to allow her five gulps of air, before sending her back underneath the icy water. Another time, two boys would pin her against a tree while one lit her clothes on fire. The most common one, however, was punching her and kicking her. Azula was not as skilled in hand-to-hand combat as her brother was, at this point, and the only thing she could do was hold up her hands to protect her face. Not that this helped, because her wrists were often pinned to the soft ground, and her face became a punching bag. After attacks like this, she would spend thirty minutes in the river, washing off blood and stitching wounds, hoping that her parents and brother would not notice. They didn't, in the beginning.

That all changed when Zuko decided to take the scenic route back to the Palace. He walked by the riverbed, where he noticed a young girl washing blood of her face. Honestly, he would have walked by her without a second thought, but something caught his eye: her eyes. They were Hazel, like his. There was only one girl in the entire Fire Nation who had Hazel eyes: Azula. Zuko dropped the notebook that took refuge in his hands onto the hard dirt and sprinted over to his little sister.

Azula did not notice it at the time, because she was crying, and was completely unaware of her brother's presence until Zuko's fingers swept away her glistening tears. She had washed away most of the blood to reveal a bruise underneath her left eye and a nasty scar underneath her lip. Her clothes were scorched from being lit ablaze by the boys and her hands were red with her blood. It took a few moments for Zuko to process what he was seeing, but when he did, all those around him should have feared his fury.

"Who did this to you, Az?" Zuko asked her, his voice deadly quiet. The girl knew that her brother was angry, furious even, but did not show his rage towards her. He hid that part of him very well. "I-I can't tell you ZuZu." She felt herself say, rather meekly. Azula couldn't believe what she was doing. She was the Fire Nation Firebending Prodigy, and was way better at it than her brother was, and he would always come to her for help. Now, the tables were turned and Azula was feeling very weak. She felt her brother's soft, reassuring hands enclose her wrists gently. "You can tell me, Az. I'll take care of it." To this day, Azula didn't know what made her think that her brother would protect her: his kind, soft voice or his furious, enraged eyes. Nevertheless, she told him the names of the three boys who hurt her and allowed him to tend to her wounds. When he reached the scar, he dabbed some cold water on it, earning a groan from Azula. "There isn't much I can do, Azula," Her brother had started, dabbing more water on her scar, "It'll be there forever. Though it isn't very big. I think I'll call it the Unnoticed Scar. No one can see it from a distance." He then proceeded to give her a crooked smile, which she had laughed at. After he was done helping her, Zuko had escorted his sister back to the Palace, placing an arm around her tiny shoulders, and shielding her from the people around them. His other hand quivered around his dual swords, in case he needed them. In this quiet moment, Azula realized that her brother truly did care for her, and made a mental note to thank him for it, even though she never did. As soon as she got to the door, her brother bid her a farewell, stating that he had "business" to take care of.

The next day, the three boys who tormented her were gone, with the teacher stating that they ran out of town the previous night. Azula knew that it had to do with Zuko, and his dual swords, even though every time she asked about it, he would just smirk and say that it was luck. After that, until she was thirteen, Zuko and Azula walked home every day from school together, sharing their stories, and laughing. Eventually, the two were no longer close anymore, with Azula losing her happiness and humanness without Zuko, and her brother becoming more distant and emotionless than ever before. Azula still never said thank you.

Now, it was nearly seven years later, with Azula waiting patiently at her Mental Rehabilitation Center to have Zuko come over and visit her. She was replaying this story in her mind over and over again until it seemed to be part of her very broken identity. She checked her pink lipstick one more time, to make sure that it covered the scar, and sat down on the bed, waiting and watching. Five minutes later, Zuko walked through the metal doors of her cell, and plopped himself down on her bed, the Fire Lord insignia glowing brightly in his hair. Azula didn't say a word and she didn't make any movement. She just studied her big brother, the one who would always defend her, protect her, and care for her. She saw Zuko and she knew that he was the one who would always love her. So, she stood up and Bear hugged him, whispering "Thank you" over and over in his ear, even though he didn't understand what it was from or for. Azula didn't care though. She owed him a thanks anyway.


End file.
